Phoenix police charge ex-con with killing priest who was born in Hudson Valley

In this photo provided by The Catholic Sun, the Rev. Kenneth Walker, left, and the Rev. Joseph Terra celebrate Mass at the Mother of Mercy Mission in Phoenix. Walker was killed and Terra was critically injured in a shooting last week at the church.
Associated Press

The priest was killed with a handgun that had been retrieved by another priest after he was hit with an iron rod at a Phoenix church, police said.

Police say the Rev. Joseph Terra went to investigate noises in a church courtyard last Wednesday and was attacked by 54-year-old Gary Michael Moran with the piece of metal. Terra then fled and got a .357-caliber gun from his bedroom, police said.

But Moran wrestled the weapon away from the injured priest and killed Terra’s assistant, the Rev. Kenneth Walker, after he rushed to the aid of his colleague, court records state.

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Moran then stole a camera and fled in Walker’s car, police said.

Rorate Caeli, an online blog widely read in Vatican circles, has said Walker was born near Poughkeepsie.

Police Chief Daniel Garcia called the attack “a violent, tragic, horrifying offense” committed by a career criminal who had been out of prison only six weeks. Moran had served about eight years on charges lodged in 2005 that included aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.

In that case, police said, Moran entered a Phoenix apartment, found a steak knife, went into the bedroom and stabbed a man in the abdomen without provocation before being subdued.

Moran didn’t know the victims or recall the crime, and he cited a history of drug abuse including recent methamphetamine use, police said. He was sentenced to 10 years in prison.

Moran also was sentenced to more than four years in prison after pleading guilty in 2001 to misconduct involving weapons. He was convicted in two 1989 burglaries as well.

During his recent stint in prison, Moran was found guilty of more than a dozen infractions, including four for drug manufacturing and possession, the Department of Corrections records show.

“He is a career criminal, a violent felony offender,” Garcia said.

The priests were attacked Wednesday night in the rectory of the Mother of Mercy Mission. Walker, 28, died of a gunshot wound, and Terra was badly beaten. Terra was able to give Walker last rites after the assault.

The news of the arrest came just as a Mass was to be held for Walker at another church in Phoenix.

“We’re relieved that he’s not out there doing it again and we hope some good comes out of it for him,” Walker’s stepsister, Sasha Keys, said of the arrest. She said nearly $42,000 in donations had poured in from around the country.

“It was incredible,” she said. “I’m still getting letters in the mail with checks.”

Police previously said Terra gave them a limited description of the suspect. Detectives said they were running forensic tests on evidence collected at the scene of the assault and from Walker’s vehicle, which was found abandoned several blocks from the church.

Terra was moved out of a hospital intensive care unit Saturday and is expected to make a full recovery. The Rev. Carl Gismondi, a pastor visiting from San Diego, conducted Mass at the priests’ church Sunday and said he had visited his fellow clergyman at the hospital.

“He was in good spirits,” Gismondi said after the service.

Walker had 10 siblings and was drawn to the priesthood after attending traditional Latin Mass with his family in high school. He later joined the seminary, made good grades and enjoyed playing soccer, said the Rev. Joseph Lee, academic dean at the Our Lady of Guadalupe Seminary in Nebraska.

Walker eventually joined a Catholic order that specializes in Latin Mass and became a priest in downtown Phoenix. He recently officiated a younger sibling’s wedding in Kansas — the last time he saw many relatives.